


Father Christmas

by Newrose12



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Episode Related, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-15
Updated: 2014-10-15
Packaged: 2018-02-21 05:53:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2457251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Newrose12/pseuds/Newrose12
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor leaves Rose and Mickey in that alleyway, goes and makes his mark through time, once he lands again, he finds himself where he started but with a younger Rose this time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Father Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> In 'The Doctor Dances' the Doctor mentions that he was the one who gave Rose her red bike when she was twelve, so I decided that, going on the belief that he met her just after he regenerated, he left her and went on to save the Daniels family and get to Kennedy's assassination and the Krakatoa before finding a younger Rose. This takes place as if he'd just landed back in London on Christmas Eve of that year.

“Rose Tyler, are you looking at the bike again?” a near shrill voice called and the Doctor spun, noting a young woman standing just down the sidewalk staring into a window shop. She was younger, maybe around twelve, but he recognized her, even through the heavy holiday traffic.

“Maybe,” she replied and he watched as she pulled away reluctantly, “but mum, I'm the only twelve year old kid on the estate that doesn't have one.”

“You're not the only one, Rose,” Jackie replied and took her daughter's hand and started to lead her away, “Mickey said you could use his any time.”

“But he has a boys bike,” Rose whined, “this one is red and made for girls.”

“There isn't any difference between a girls and a boys bike Rose,” Jackie said with a roll of her eyes.

“Yes there is,” Rose said, stopping in her tracks and Jackie turned to her with an irritated look on her face.

“Rose, not this year, maybe next year,” she said.

“You said that last year too, why can't we get it this year?” she demanded.

“Because I can't afford it, I can barely afford to put food on our table right now Rose, Id can't go spending money we need on frivolous things!” There was a pause as mother and daughter stared each other down, and the Doctor took a closer look at the two. Rose's coat did look worn, and one size too small, her gloves were thin and she didn't have boots on, though there was snow on the ground. Jackie was worse off, her coat wasn't made for winter months and she wore no scarf or gloves and he could see her shivering slightly in the cold.

“Fine,” Rose said as she started moving again, “not like you're going to be there to cook Christmas dinner anyway.”

“Rose, I told you, I can't get the day off,” Jackie replied, following her, “I have to work Christmas, we'll open our presents and then you'll have dinner with Mickey and his family.”

“Just like last year and the year before that,” Rose said petulantly and Jackie sighed before pulling her daughter around.

“I don't like it any more than you do, sweetheart, but we need the extra money right now, you'll understand when you get older.”

“You keep saying that, all I have to say is this better make sense or I'm going to be ticked.” They stared at each other for a moment before Jackie pulled her daughter into a hug.

“Smart ass,” she said affectionately

“I learned from the best,” Rose shot back and they continued on their way, arms wrapped around each other, but the Doctor didn't miss the last glance towards the bike that Rose gave. The Doctor watched them go and then turned to the shop where he found a shiny red bicycle and glanced again in the direction Jackie and Rose had gone. Making a quick decision, he went into the shop to buy a few things, rationalizing that he hadn't been able to pay her back for saving his life when he had the chance, but he could do this for her now.

Several hours later, he had purchased the bike, new coats, gloves, scarves, and hats for the mother and daughter in what he hoped were the right sizes. When he had told the sales lady that he wasn't sure of size, he had been relieved when she assumed he was the estranged father and she hadn't thought more on it. Once he was done there, he went and bought food for them, though the shops were nearly empty with it being Christmas Eve. Once he had everything, he landed the TARDIS on the roof of Rose's building and lugged everything downstairs. He set up everything outside the door, a note on the bike saying 'She's going to be fantastic', before knocking and moving away.

It was still early, the sun was just peaking over the horizon when the door opened to Rose in her pajamas and he grinned at her shouts of joy. He spent the day on the roof, watching as she rode the bike with a younger version of Mickey, knowing he should move on, but he didn't. Finally when it was late and dark, and Rose and Mickey had gone inside, he turned to leave.

Hearing the door to the roof opening, he ducked beside and glanced at the TARDIS which stood a few feet away, wondering if he could reach it without being seen.

“Rose, what are we doing up here?” a male voice demanded and he poked his head around and saw Rose there in her new jacket and gloves, staring up at the sky.

“Look,” she said, pointing up at the stars.

“It's the sky Rose,” the boy next to her said, rubbing his arms against the cold.

“It's not just the sky Mickey,” Rose replied, sounding irritated, “it's the stars, we haven't been able to see them for days with the storms.”

“They're just balls of gas,” Mickey complained, not seeming to understand her love of the stars.

“Not all of them, some of them are planets, wouldn't it be great to travel to those planets?” she demanded enthusiastically and the Doctor raised an eyebrow. “What if we're not alone in the universe, what if there are people out there, what if there are _aliens_? Wouldn't that be amazing? What if we could travel up there, meet other races! What if we could travel in time, maybe one of the aliens out there knows how to do it, time and space, wouldn't that be great?” Her voice had raised in pitch with her excitement and the Doctor looked again to find the young boy looking at her oddly.

“Thinking about your dad again?” he asked and Rose seemed to deflate and sent an irritated look at him.

“No,” she said, shaking her head, “I mean yeah,” she went on with a sigh, “it's just, whenever mum has too much to drink, she tends to go on about him, you know? It's just...” she paused and looked up at the stars again, “how do you miss someone that you've never met? If you could go back, meet anyone you wanted to, who would you?”

“No one,” Mickey replied with a shrug and Rose huffed out a breath, “come on Rose, there are no such things as aliens and you and me? We're never going into space,” he said and glanced up at the stars again before heading back inside. Rose huffed out another breath while staring at the stars before turning and following him.

“He's an idiot,” the Doctor found himself saying and the young girl nearly shrieked and turned towards him.

“Do I know you?” she asked, keeping close the door as he stayed in the shadows.

“Just visiting a friend,” he lied and she nodded before inching towards the door, “but your friend, he's an idiot.”

“He's not all that bad,” she defended but didn't sound convincing.

“He's an idiot,” he reiterated, “if you want to go into space, there's nothing stopping you, other than people like him telling you you can't.”

“Thanks mister, but you can't do things by wishing them, believe me, I know, I've tried. Anyway,” she went on, pulling her jacket closer, “I should head in, it's cold, so... see ya.” With that she made her way in to the stairwell. Sighing, the Doctor looked back up at the stars and then to the TARDIS and shook his head.

Once inside, he stared at the console, saddened by what he had seen, he knew that Rose was bright and probably could have had a bright future, but people like her mother and that Mickey boy he had recognized had held her back. Making a split second decision, he set a destination for moments after he left her and Mickey in that alley. Opening the door, he was relieved to find them still there and he said twelve words he had rehearsed in his head since he started the engines.

“By the way, did I also mention that it travels in time?”

 

 


End file.
